Motor vehicles often employ a hitch assembly for towing a trailer. The typical hitch assembly is mounted to the rear of the motor vehicle and includes a hitch receiver tube and a removable hitch bar. The hitch receiver tube is permanently mounted to the motor vehicle using brackets and/or welds. The hitch receiver tube is sized to receive the hitch bar therein. The hitch bar has a ball or tongue onto which the trailer is mounted.
In most conventional hitch assemblies, the hitch receiver tube includes a reinforcing collar or ring mounted on the end of the hitch receiver tube into which the hitch bar is inserted. The protective collar or ring protects the inside shape of the tube from being deformed. Typically this protective collar or ring is welded onto the hitch receiver tube. While this method of construction has served well in the past, welding of the collar or ring onto the hitch receiver tube has some disadvantages. First, the hitch receiver tube is viewable from the rear of the motor vehicle, and the weld itself may not be aesthetically pleasing. Second, it increases the likelihood of water and debris being retained and resulting in the formation of rust. Finally, using a multiple piece assembly for the hitch receiver tube results in greater shipping, handling, and manufacturing costs than does employing a single piece assembly. An additional method of forming a one piece design by upsetting produces a visual defect in the tube.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide the art with a new trailer receiver tube and a cold forward extrusion method of construction that eliminates the disadvantages found in prior art designs and methods.